Help ..Drive Sprocket and Chain Question

[BW3]

Going over the 2006/07 Frontier with my friend , we found a few things we are not sure about , the drive sprocket that is on the drivers side under the transmission slides back and forth on the spline shaft also the sprockets on the drive axles to the front wheels slide back and forth , we can see what looks like a hole for a set screw on the passenger side front axle along with an indent for one .. we are beginning to thing that the machine got little or no TLC from the original owner but hard use in the first 75hours as we found little grease in the bearings ....Are we missing set screws and what size ?
Help ....
Thanks in-advance to all
Bill G.

[trevorakm1]

thos sprocket are meant to float. i thought the same thing. if you aren't finding alot of grease in the bearings check to see if they are still good. i had two in mine completely destroyed with 160 hrs on the machine.

[Dan67]

I have first hand knowledge of that too. Mine has 360ish hours and the idler bearings are shot. Make sure you pre-grease them before installing. Use a needle adapter on a grease gun. As trevor says, they are supposed to float.

[plott hound]

same thing here as dan,360 hours and the bearings are all shot.along with the sprockets,axles and idler shafts.

[jerseybigfoot]

The front inboard and the jackshaft brgs should have a better way of greasing them. I was considering machining heavier flangets with a properly located zerk. Found it cheaper to disassemble half the machine instead. Anybody decides to correct the problem I am sure there are customers.

[BW3]

Only going to show just how little I know/understand ...if the sprockets by transmission are floating and are able to slide back and forth on the shaft I still do not understand why the front sprockets on the axle for the front wheels are to slide side to side does this not stretch the chain ? So why does the sprockets have threaded holes for set screws and indents for same on the axles? Sorry if this is a dumb question but still learning about this beast ... Thanks All
Bill G.
P.S.
We did get grease into all the bearing and hopefully things are OK , on average each outside bearing took about 12 pumps to fill the insides about the same or a couple less ...

[Obsessed]

Only going to show just how little I know/understand ...if the sprockets by transmission are floating and are able to slide back and forth on the shaft I still do not understand why the front sprockets on the axle for the front wheels are to slide side to side does this not stretch the chain ? So why does the sprockets have threaded holes for set screws and indents for same on the axles? Sorry if this is a dumb question but still learning about this beast ... Thanks All
Bill G.
P.S.
We did get grease into all the bearing and hopefully things are OK , on average each outside bearing took about 12 pumps to fill the insides about the same or a couple less ...

Hi Bill.. Good questions! The reason the front sprockets float is because during frame flexing the alignment of different drive components changes...this is also why the two bearings under the transmission are not locked to the shaft but intended to allow the idler shaft to slide in and out of the inner bearing when frame flexes...another important reason is it helps insure that the front sprockets never seize to the axle which in that location would really make maintaince and repairs difficult ...they do have the set screw holes because they are a mass produced common part, same thing goes for all of the axles...ODG has determined it is easier to only produce one single axle part for an entire machine even if it ends up with a few more holes in it than necessary for its final assembly location...other slight difference in front and rear or middle axles is if they intend to install them in a location that has the optional cast aluminum axle bearing extension then they get less paint and more of the axle is left exposed so that the bearings can slide clear out to their final mounting location

Best of luck and i hope this helps a little

Tim

[BW3]

Ahhh , I understand .... Thank You
Bill G.

[Dan67]

BW3

Another thing to notice, the outer flanges are cast aluminum and have 2 grease zergs. One closest to the body is for the bearing, the other is to fill the void between the 2 seals inserted in the flange. Those outermost grease zergs take allot of grease and that is what creates the water tight seal on the axle. When you install new bearings, always pre-grease them before installing. You would be amazed to see how little is actually already inside a bearing when purchased new.